A solicitor owes a duty of care to their client, which is to act with reasonable care and skill and in accordance with the professional standards expected of them.
Solicitor Negligence Claims
Whilst you may only instruct a solicitor on a few occasions, it will often be during major milestones, such as a house purchase or a court case. If a solicitor makes an error, the consequences may be life changing.
Put simply, solicitor negligence is where a solicitor makes an error which causes their client to suffer financial loss. It is a specific type of professional negligence concerning solicitors.
A solicitor is a professional person who is qualified to undertake work on legal matters. Solicitors train for years to advise clients on complex legal questions and to perform legal tasks such as conducting litigation, applying for probate, or drafting contracts.
As a professional person, when undertaking work on legal matters, a solicitor owes his or her client a duty of care to act with reasonable care and skill. A solicitor may be negligent when they make a mistake which breaches that duty of care.
If the consequences of a solicitor’s mistake cannot be rectified, and lead to a client suffering a financial loss, that client can sue their solicitor for negligence. If successful, they may be able to recover damages from the solicitor to compensate them for their financial loss.
When and where legal negligence might occur
Specters has acted on hundreds of solicitor negligence cases over the years. Some typical examples we tend to see more often are when a solicitor has:
• Failed to notice a major defect in a property their clients were purchasing
• Failed to serve the Particulars of Claim on time, causing the claim to be struck out
• Missed the limitation date before issuing a claim, causing the claim to be time barred
• Failed to draft a commercial lease in accordance with client instructions;
• Failed to advise clients of the critical weakness of a defence.
Suing your solicitor
Suing your solicitor will nearly always involve the following 6 steps:
- We will send a Preliminary Notice of Claim to the solicitor, requesting the solicitor’s file of papers and asking them to notify their professional indemnity insurers of the claim.
- On receipt of the file of papers, we will undertake a full review.
- If we believe your case still has merits after reviewing the file of papers, we will prepare a Letter of Claim, setting out both the allegations of negligence and a summary of damages.
- The Defendant should send an acknowledgement of the Letter of Claim within 21 days.
- The Defendant should respond to the Letter of Claim within 3 months of their acknowledgement. The Defendant will either accept or deny the allegations of negligence.
- If the Defendant admits some or all of the allegations, we will negotiate a reasonable settlement. If they deny liability in its entirety, we may advise you to issue court proceedings.
At Specters Solicitors, we offer expert guidance throughout this intricate process, from collecting evidence and securing expert testimonies to managing the complexities of legal proceedings.
We understand the significant impact solicitor negligence can have on your personal and professional life. Therefore, we are committed to providing a personalised and strategic approach to your case, ensuring that your unique needs and objectives are fully met.
Our legal negligence solicitors
Frequently asked questions
What do you charge to bring a solicitor negligence claim?
We charge fees according to our funding agreement with you.
We may be able to act on a no win no fee agreement if your claim meets certain criteria. A no win no fee agreement means we will not charge you up front or if you lose your claim. If your claim is successful, we will take a success fee from your damages.
If we are unable to offer a no win no fee agreement, we can act on a fixed fee agreement or an hourly rate agreement.
How do you know if I have a good claim?
We know whether you have a good claim by relying on our years of experience assessing solicitor negligence claims.
Often, we will be able to confirm whether you have a good claim based only on an initial phone conversation. On other occasions, we will need to apply for and review the solicitor’s file of papers first before we can confirm whether you have a good claim.
How long do I have to bring a claim for solicitor negligence?
Typically, you have six years from the date of the negligent act to bring a claim i.e. to issue a claim in court. However, if you only became aware of your solicitor’s negligence later, you may have three years from your date of knowledge of your losses to bring a claim.
The date by which you must issue a claim in court is called the limitation date. It is important to seek legal advice on whether you have a claim as soon as possible since the limitation date isn’t always clear, and you could be time barred from bringing a claim if the limitation date passes.
How long does it take to finish a solicitor negligence claim?
It typically takes 1 to 2 years to finish a professional negligence claim.
The length of time varies case by case. If your claim is straightforward and the defendant solicitor quickly admits liability, the claim will take less time to resolve. If your claim is more complex and the defendant solicitor denies liability, your claim will take longer to resolve.
What kind of losses can I claim for in a solicitor negligence case?
You can claim for all the foreseeable losses that were caused by your solicitor’s negligence.
Every case will turn on its fact. If your solicitor’s negligence caused you to lose a personal injury claim, you can claim for the loss of chance to recover damages by winning your claim. If your solicitor failed to spot a major defect in a property you just purchased, you can claim for the difference in value between the property with versus without the defect.
